When needs must, and all that!

Last night there was no telly, one light only allowed on, no laptops charging and every non essential drain on the batteries removed. This meant we had to resort to either talking to each other or play cribbage. We choose the latter!

Two comments arrived on the blog, one about the plane and one about the travel pack. So thank you goes to Chris and Jennie Nb Tentatrice who told me the plane by the motorway was a Jaguar and thanks also goes to Chris Nb Wrens-Nest who mentioned that Atherstone Cox Automotive  may be able to repair the travel pack. Funnily enough Ian had also discovered this company on line last night and gave them a call this morning. So first port of call, collect the hire car (well we were actually picked up by Enterprise and taken to their depot) and then drive to Atherstone to drop off both the alternator and travel pack. 

Then it was off towards Stoke on Trent and the village of Leek (almost next to the Caldon canal) to fetch a generator, the Honda EU20i which we had successfully bid for late last night on ebay! To buy new would have cost about £1200. This second hand one, and almost as good as new, cost us £700. There are lots of cheaper generators out there to purchase I know, but if truth be known I detest generators. The majority we have come across are noisy, smelly and invasive so for us to own one goes against the grain. To buy one of those cheap noisy ones was also an absolute no no, and a bit of investigation on the net showed the Honda to be fairly quiet. Needs must and all that, after all the fridge and freezer is an essential part of the day to day life on board so a generator it had to be. A phone call from Cox Automotive late afternoon confirmed our worse fears, the travel pack had a defunct module and the alternator would need a complete rebuild. Goodness knows how much that will cost us. Well over £500 I expect but still cheaper than buying a new one. It wont be ready until next Tuesday! A good job the company is only about half mile from the canal. At least we can take the boat to Atherstone to collect it.

It's off to Nottingham to do the usual hospital visit in the morning. Today is also grandson Joshua's birthday so we must visit the family late afternoon tomorrow to give presents and wish him a happy birthday. There may also be cake after his party today so here's hoping a couple of slices has been left for us.

Photos of Hawkesbury Junction and Sutton stop lock.

Sutton stop lock

The Coventry canal

Hawkesbury junction

Nestled in between two boats..